CFCC students build their own research equipment | News

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – Students at Cape Fear Community
College are taking a practical approach to acquiring new research equipment by
building it themselves.

According to a spokesperson for the college, a group of
marine technology students are building two "drifters" which will be used to monitor
the Atlantic Ocean.

The drifters send back information at four minute intervals,
so students can monitor the way currents move in the Gulf Stream.

CFCC Marine Technology chairman, Jason Rogers, said this
kind of equipment is often used in the industry. He said marine researchers use
the same type of technology when oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico to predict
the path of the oil flow.

According to CFCC, the student-built drifters will begin
their journey offshore at the mouth of the Cape Fear River and can drift
hundreds of miles.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.